Hiring finance leaders: the founder guides
The first finance hire and the first CFO are the two decisions that most change how a founder-led business runs its money. These guides cover when to make them, how to run the hire, what it costs and the fractional options in between, informed by what 194 funded Australian startups actually did and by the searches I run.
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The four decisions
4 guidesEvery founder building a finance function runs into the same four questions. Here is how I think about each, from placing these roles for a decade. The guides that answer each one in full are listed below.
The timing mistakes I see come in three kinds: the CFO title too early, a finance person too late, and a hire too junior for the business twelve months out. The trigger is rarely revenue on its own. It is the point where the numbers start driving decisions and nobody in the room owns them full time.
Read the full guideFinance salaries in venture-backed businesses do not track the generic guides, because the person doing three jobs at a Series A is not a divisional controller at a corporate on the same title. These are the ranges I see land offers, by seat and by stage, in the Australian market.
Read the full guideA fractional CFO gives you senior finance judgement without a full-time salary, and before the first internal hire it is often the right answer. It is also over-sold. Here is when it works, when you have outgrown it, and what it should cost.
Read the full guideHiring a finance leader is not a job-ad problem. The best candidates are employed and not looking, and the search that lands them looks nothing like posting a role and screening applicants. This is how a CFO search runs, what it costs, and what to ask before you brief one.
Read the full guideThe guide for each decision
9 guidesOne guide per question, informed by what 194 funded Australian startups actually did and by the searches I run. Start with the one that matches where you are.
- When to hire a CFOWhether now is the moment, and the three timing mistakes. Of the 191 companies we tracked with a dated finance hire, 100 (52%) had one before their first announced round.
- How to hire a CFO in AustraliaThe process from brief to first day: scorecard, interviews, references, offer and notice. Only 56 of 191 companies we tracked (29%) made a CFO their first finance hire.
- CFO recruitment: cost, time and how the search runsOur published fee, a real 22-working-day placement, and when a recruiter is the wrong call. Of the 56 first-hire CFOs we tracked, 23% (13) came from a large corporate and 18% (10) from another startup.
- CFO and finance leadership salariesWhat each seat costs at each stage in Australia, from late Series A to pre-IPO.
- Fractional CFO in AustraliaWhen fractional works, and when you have outgrown it. At least 16 of 191 first finance hires we tracked (8%) were fractional, part-time or interim.
- Part-time CFO costWhat a fractional or part-time CFO costs, by stage.
- How to structure a finance team as you scaleWhat finance looks like at 20, 50 and 100 people. The second finance hire came a median 16 months after the first (156 companies we tracked).
- When a software startup needs a CFOWhy single-product SaaS can often wait. 37 of 82 software companies we tracked (45%) had finance before their first round.
- The research behind these guidesWhen Australian startups make their first finance hire, dated against their rounds, with the method and its limits.
Working out the finance hire your next stage needs?
Tell us where the business is going. We will map the market and give you an honest read on the role, the level and the range, before you commit to a search.